Howard

Howard's piece reignites a long feeling of hopelessness, which I find myself trying to avoid, but always seem to get sucked back into; why composition? Unfortunately, composition has played step-child to the field of literature ever since writing made its way into the University hierarchical structure, and Howard's comment that some writing programs include no composition scholars at all, doesn't help the situation (62). This perception of composition leads to the assumptions that writing courses are service driven, which anybody can do; hence, the continuous lack of respect and horrible working conditions of the instructors rolling around in the trenches, struggling to get by.

It makes me wonder why literature is so highly respected, and composition not. Howard makes the point that the audience for composition studies are teachers/scholars, students, and the public; however, this is the case for every field (60). Scholars do research, which in turn teacher take into the classroom to their students, whom then take such knowledge into the public. The only thing that I can see, which makes literature better then composition is the immediate benefits/results of instruction carried into the public.

I say this because literature makes an individual read material from a variety of perceptions, which emphasizes critical thinking; a very beneficial tool in the public sector, or within other courses during the undergraduate years. Writing also involves critical thinking, but the problem is how to instruct it. Most of the writing done in college is geared toward essay writing. This is a great genre, for developing organizational skills, but not every aspect of writing across the curriculum falls within an essay, nor does this happen in the real world. Essentially, composition teaches organization and clarity, but it needs to expand into genres of real world applications to be truly beneficial for the public.

All in all, the situation is very disturbing; especially considering the economy. Why composition? People need to know how to write, but as the economy slowly crumbles and universities slowly become elitist institutes, because of budget restraints, what's the trickle-down affect? When individuals can't find employment at the four year institutes, does this mean the PhDs push out the MAs at within the two year institutes? I don't know why composition studies. I don't know if there is an excellent, clear-cut, answer to this question, or any of the others. It just maybe a a case of making a bad career choice.